ANGOLA, Ind.-- A late old-fashioned three-point play by Stefanie Lang led Olivet over Trine, 56-55, in a back-and-forth tussle Saturday afternoon in Hershey Hall.
Lang collected an offensive rebound, scored the put-back and drew the foul with 11 seconds remaining to tie the score at 55. She connected on the ensuing free throw, and the Comets got the stop at the other end to earn the victory. The Thunder held the leading scorer in the MIAA to five points, but Lang came up with the big play late. Olivet outscored Trine 40-18 in the paint, including a 21-6 advantage in second-chance points. Kayla Dunn (Columbia City, Ind./Columbia City) led the Thunder with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Trine falls to 9-5 overall and 3-2 in the MIAA. Olivet improves to 7-7 overall, 2-3 in conference play.
Kelsey Henselmeier (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville) added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder. Whitney Shaffer (Tipton, Ind./Tri-Central) scored eight points and knocked down a pair of threes. Trine shot 35 percent (17-of-48) from the field, and hit 17-of-28 (61 percent) of their free throws.
Lang grabbed 14 rebounds and notched a pair of blocks for Olivet. The Comets were led by Carli Reid's 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting. She added nine rebounds. Olivet shot 34 percent overall (24-of-71), and hit just 5-of-15 (33 percent) from the free throw line.
The physical contest featured seven ties and 14 lead changes. The Comets led by as much as nine late in the first half before the Thunder fought their way back into the game. Trine outscored the Comets 13-6 over the final 4:53 of the first half to close the deficit to 32-31 at the break. Henselmeier provided six points during that stretch, while Dunn added four.
The game remained locked within three points into the closing minutes. A Reid layup gave Olivet a one-point lead, but Dunn drew a foul knocked down a pair of free throws to put Trine up 54-53 with 2:22 to play. After empty possessions for each team, Nikky Moan (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) split a pair of free throws to make the score 55-53 with 38 seconds remaining.
That set the stage for Lang, who collected the miss off a Reid jumper, scored the putback and hit the and-one free throw to put Olivet up. The Comets forced a Trine miss at the other end to earn the victory.
Trine wraps up a four-game home stand this Wednesday, Jan. 14 when they host Adrian at 7:30 p.m. in Hershey Hall.